Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar Surrenders

On Monday the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop tournament was booted from the front page as Ray Bitar, the CEO of the beleaguered Full Tilt Poker, turned himself in at John F Kennedy Airport in New York City. Bitar sent out an E-Mail to Full Tilt Poker employees explaining his decision and explaining that PokerStars would be handling all July payments, and his surrender was part of the process in finalizing the deal that will see PokerStars takeover their longtime rival.

The E-Mail also pointed to an impending deal between Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, as Bitar stated that “…we have made arrangements for Poker Stars to guarantee all July salaries. You should therefore have no concern about coming to work during this period. After that, we expect that your employment contracts will be assumed by the buyer of the company’s assets.”

The E-Mail seems to have been meant for mass consumption as Bitar reiterated his one public statement given to PokerStrategy.com some months ago, saying that player payment was Full Tilt Poker’s top priority:

“By now you probably have heard that I have returned to the US to deal with civil and criminal case that are pending against me in New York. We have all worked hard over the last 15 months to preserve Full Tilt’s assets and potential in order to provide for the repayment of all players, and that continues to be our top priority. It is as important as ever that we all do everything possible to make that happen and, hopefully our deal with Poker Stars will very soon make our goal a reality. My return to the US is part of this process.” [you can find the full E-Mail at the bottom of this article]

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bahrara, also released a statement about the arrest of Bitar, which included yet another charge against the Full Tilt Poker CEO, charging him with running a Ponzi scheme post-Black Friday. While it seems a plea-deal is already in place based on the events and Bitar’s E-Mail to employees, Bharara used his usual hyperbole, and got in the obligatory poker reference, when describing the arrest: “With today’s arrest and the new charges brought against him, Raymond Bitar will now be held criminally responsible for the alleged multi-million fraud he perpetrated on his U.S. customers. The indictment alleges how Bitar bluffed his player-customers and fixed the game against them as part of an international Ponzi scheme that left players empty-handed.”

Most of us in the poker world are reading this as signal that a deal between PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and the US Department of Justice is in its final stages, and with Bitar surrendering the end-game should be coming very, very, soon.
Here is the full E-Mail sent by Ray Bitar to Full Tilt Poker employees:

“To all Dublin Staff,

By now you probably have heard that I have returned to the US to deal with civil and criminal case that are pending against me in New York. We have all worked hard over the last 15 months to preserve Full Tilt’s assets and potential in order to provide for the repayment of all players, and that continues to be our top priority. It is as important as ever that we all do everything possible to make that happen and, hopefully our deal with Poker Stars will very soon make our goal a reality. My return to the US is part of this process.

I am particularly grateful to all of you here in Dublin for your hard work, patience and understanding during this difficult time. I believe that your hard work and dedication should not go unrecognized, and we have made arrangements for Poker Stars to guarantee all July salaries. You should therefore have no concern about coming to work during this period. After that, we expect that your employment contracts will be assumed by the buyer of the company’s assets.

For those that need to reach me, I expect to continue to be available by email and phone starting late Monday, New York time.

In the meantime, please refer any operational questions to **REDACTED**, and any HR questions to **REDACTED**.

With over a decade in the industry Steve can be categorized as an official poker junkie, having played poker in locales from Foxwoods to Las Vegas and even in Europe. Steve is a former professional poker player who transitioned to the more serene life of poker media in 2009 to spend more time with his family. Steve currently lives on the East Coast and is married with two kids.